Baffle for boiler tubes



Jul 10, 1951 v J, CLARK $560,275

BAFFLE FOR BOILER TUBES Filed Feb. 19, 1948 "INVENTOR. Sway/ward CLARK.

Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED PATENT oFiF-ics -:t Acme Tank 19:."Welding (20., .a Division of Uni-ted Tool &"DiB Company, Hartford,001m.

Application February 19, 1948,"Serial No.9;572

"7 Glaims.

This 'i-nvention relates to baliles for boiler tubes andmore-particularly "-to :a device which "is used for retarding the new ofl'1eat through a heat exchange tube so as to increase "the efiiciency ofthe boiler. V

An -o'biect-of the "invention is to provide such a'lbalile which isparticularly adapted forboilers having'a plurality of fire tubes extending through a water chamber.

-A still further object of the invention is to provide abafile whichwill retard'th'e flow cf'heat through the iir-etr-i-beand at thesametimedirect a portion of said "flow: into contactwith the walls of thetube so as to increase'the-efiiciency of "the boiler. g

A still '-fu-rther object of the invention is the provision of a bafllewhich will .retard the flow of heat and whichwilltherebybecomesuper-heated so "(as to accelerate the transfer of.lreat through said tubes. f.

Further-objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the Iollowing description and from the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. 1 is-an elevationa-l'view ofa portion .of aboiler including a pairof fire tubes.

Fi 2 is aside -view --incentra-l vertical section through said tubes.

As shown in the drawings, the numerals 5-6 denote, respectively, the topand lower plates of a water chamber in a boiler of conventionalconstruction, such as includes a plurality of fire tubes 18 which extendvertically through the water chamber and parallel to each other.

This invention is directed particularly to the provision of a bafiiewhich will retard the flow of heat through said tubes and direct saidflow along the walls of the tubes so as to increase the transfer of heatfrom said tubes to the water in the water chamber.

My invention provides a baffle in the form of a tube which is preferablyconstructed of sheet metal of a suitable alloy to withstand hightemperatures. The said tube 9 is provided with a cap, or top plate, Inin the form of a disk extending and spaced from the top of the tube 9and having the bottom surface thereof convex so as to direct the heatradially through the space H which is provided between the top edge ofthe tube 9 and the bottom surface of said disk II).

The said disk may be secured to the tube by means of ears l2 which arebent downwardly from the disk and spot-welded to the tube so as tosupport the disk in spaced position from the .2 'end ef the tube. Thesaitl disk is also provided "with radially projecting tabs 13 "whichserve to center the balile within the tube and retain it in -positi'onwherein "the -walls of the baille "tube are spaced from the heattransfer tube to allow a heat passage therebetween. The'bottom portionof the tube is provided outwardly extending "tabs M which cooperate withth-e tabs to keep the baillle tube aligned within the fire tube.

'Inorder to support -my improved ha-files within the lire tubes, thereis provided a Ill-shaped wire hanger'which 'has' depending side portionsl 5- I 5, that are bis-axial :with and securedto the disk l0, andacrossbar 6 "which overlies the ends of a pair "of tire tubesand therebysuspends "a pair of 'baflle tubes therein, as clearly illustrated inFig. 2.

The said L l-shaped wire "member provides a practical and economicalmeans for supporting the "baffles "withinthe fire "tubes, since the said'baflles may be simply mounted in pairs on said Ueshapeii memberand-dropped in position within the "fire tubes wherein they will besupported by the {U shaped -m'em-ber resting upon the top edges orsa'idfire tubes. iInthe operationofmy improvedba'fllathe heat which "isindicated by :the arrows in Fig. :2, will travelupwardlyfin thetannularspace "between the bafile tube "9 "and'the'firetube ii and alsointo' the said bafile tube. Upon entering the bafile tube the flow ofsaid heat will be retarded therein by the disk 9 and a restricted flowis permitted through the space H. Retarding the flow of heat in thismanner will serve to super-heat the tube 9 so that it will in turnsuper-heat the heated air flowing between the said bafile tube and thewall of the tube 8 and thereby accelerate the transfer of the heat tothe water in the boiler and increase the efliciency of the boiler.

It has been found by actual use that the baflle tubes 9 will increasethe efficiency of the boiler, when the heat is retarded within saidtubes by the disks I0, since this permits the tubes to act as bailles,which will direct a substantial portion of the heat flow into contactwith the inner surfaces of the walls of the tubes 8, and the remainingportions of said heat flow to build up within thebafile tubes 9, due tothe restricted flow permitted through the space H, and serve tosuper-heat the said baflle tubes so as to in turn increase the heattransfer through the fire tubes.

I claim:

1. For a fire tube of a boiler, a baflie including a tubular membersmaller than the inside of said fire tube and adapted to be positionedwithin the said fire tube, and a plate extending across an end of saidtubular member and spaced therefrom to retard the flow of heat throughsaid tubular member and thereby increase the heating thereof by saidflow and direct a portion of said fiow be tween the tubular member andthe inner wall of the fire tube, the said plate beingseparate from thetube andh'aving tabs bent downwardly therefrom and secured to the tubefor supporting it, and other tabs extending outwardly from said plate,substantially on the plane thereof, for spacing the baflie from thewalls of the fire tube.

2. For a vertically disposedfire tube of a boiler, a baffle comprising atubular memberof lesser outside diameter than the inside diameter of thefire tube and adapted to be supported within said fire tube co-axiallytherewith, a disk-shaped member extending across and spaced from theupper end of said tubular member and secured thereto by means of spacedtabs bent downwardly from said disk-shaped member, and radiallyextending tabs on said disk-shaped member for centering the said tubularmember within the fire tube. r

3. For a fire tube of a boiler, a baflie including a vertically disposedtubular member of lesser outside diameter than the inside diameter ofthe fire tube, a disk-shaped member secured to and extendingtransversely of said tubular member and spaced from thetop thereof toretard the fiow of heat to said tubular member; the lower surface ofsaid disk-shaped plate being convex to direct the heat fiow towards thespace between said plate and the upper edge of the tubular member, tabsradiating from said plate and from the lower portion of said tubularmember for centering'the said bafile within the fire tube, and means forsupporting the said baffle within the fire tube.

4.- For the fire tube of a boiler, a baffle including a tubularmember oflesser outside diameter than the inside diameter of the fire tube, meansfor retarding the fiow of heat through said tubular member, and meansfor supporting said tubular member within the fire tube andlongitudinally thereof including an integral inverted U-shaped wirehanger extending secured to said tubular member andadapted to extendinto the fire tube over the edge thereof and into an adjacent fire tubefor supporting a similar baiile therein.

5. For a boiler including a plurality of vertically extending firetubes, a heat flow baflie including a plurality of tubular membershaving means for retarding the flow of heat therethrough and being of alesser outside diameter than the inside diameter of said fire tubes, andan integral inverted U-shaped supporting member having said tubularmembers suspended from the ends thereof and'be'ing adapted to extendover the upper ends of two adjacent fire tubes for supporting one ofsaid tubular members longitudinally in each of the fire tubes.

6. For a fire tube of a boiler, a baflie device including an. integral,inverted U-shaped wire hanger, a disk-shaped member secured to the endof each leg of said hanger on a plane perpendicular to the. sidesthereof, and a tubular member suspended perpendicularly from each ofsaid disk-shaped members and spaced therefrom; the said hanger beingadapted to extend over the top edges of two adjacent fire tubes and,support said bafiie tubes therein andco-axially therewith.

7. For a boiler having a plurality of justapositioned verticallyextending fire tubes, a bafiie device including a pair of baffles eachcomprising a disk-shaped plate, a tube suspended perpendicularly to andspaced from said plate, a plurality of tabs radiating from saiddisk-shaped plate and tubular member for centering them within the firetubes, and an integral inverted U-shaped wire hanger connected to saidpair of baffles and adapted to extend over the top edges of the twoadjacent fire tubes and support one of saidv bafiles in each of saidfire tubes.

STANLEY J. CLARK.

7 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Willett Apr. 25, 1939

